For the 2012 Olympics, Reighard can add a hoarse voice to the maladies accompanying round-the-clock cheering.

Reighard has a special interest in this year's Olympics, especially in the United States women's gymnastics team.

The coach, John Geddert, is from Alpena and starred as a gymnast at CMU, specializing on horizontal bars from 1976 to 1980.

He later coached the Mount Pleasant High School gymnastics teams, then began coaching club teams, eventually starting his own club in Lansing with his wife Kathryn, who was also a scholarship athlete on the CMU gymnastics team.

"I'm always sleep-deprived during the Olympics because I watch all of it ... until 2 or 3 in the morning," Reighard said. "This Olympics is a little more special because of John and Jordyn (Wieber) and all the CMU connections.

"It speaks highly of our gymnastics program. It also speaks highly of the eduction our students receive here. Celebrities, and John has become a celebrity, are always good for us. It's good to let other people know that we have quality people here."

Jerry Reighard

Reighard was a graduate assistant at CMU during Geddert's first two seasons at CMU.

"I coached him on a daily basis in the fall of 1977," Reighard said. "John was very passionate about gymnastics. He really was a horizontal bar specialist. He is generally regarded as one of the top horizontal bar coaches in the country."

The two have naturally stayed in touch, with Reighard coaching gymnastics at CMU and Geddert running his own gym in Lansing.

That connection has also given Reighard a chance to work with Wieber, who lives in DeWitt. Wieber, the top all-around gymnast in the country, was denied an opportunity to compete for the Olympic gold in all-around when she finished behind two United States teammates in qualifying.

International rules dictate that only the top two scores from a country can qualify.

"It's a terrible rule ... every Olympics it comes into play," Reighard said. "The International Gymnastics Federation has to support and maintain worldwide gymnastics participation, but I saw the No. 31 girl in the world is going to be in the all-around championships, but the No. 1 girl isn't."

So Reighard was especially happy to see Wieber earn a gold medal when USA won the team event Tuesday for the first time since 1996.

"I've worked with Jordyn at camps and clinics, and I'm probably rooting for her above all the other athletes," Reighard said. "She's just a nice, nice girl. Very polite. And she loves being in the gym. She'd rather be in the gym, doing gymnastics, than anywhere else."

Both of Wieber's parents, David and Rita Wieber, are CMU graduates. Her brother, Ryan Wieber, is a student at CMU.

"It does add a lot for me in terms of watching," Reighard said. "I can't tell you how many phone calls I got after the Olympic trials. Ryan had some CMU apparel on, and the TV showed him hugging Jordyn. My phone lit up.

"When you watch it as a gymnastics coach, you watch a lot of different things. I'm always looking in the background because I know a lot of the coaches and judges. I look in the crowd when the camera scans, just to see if I recognize anybody.

"This Olympics is special because I know John and Jordyn well. It's fun to watch their reaction, their expressions, they body gestures."